warmth
by emyswriting
Summary: "There's a legend that if you go the middle of the Winter Woods, the Ice Prince will come and collect you. It was said that when he was a little boy, he lost control of his ice powers killing his little brother. To this day, they say that once you enter...you'll never make it out again."
1. Chapter 1

"There's a legend that if you go the middle of the Winter Woods, the Ice Prince will come and collect you. It was said that when he was a little boy, he lost control of his ice powers killing his little brother. To this day, they say that once you enter...you'll never make it out again."

"What kind of bullcrap are you spouting now, Guang-Hong?"

"Waahhh! But, Leo, it's the truth!" Guang-Hong yelled back, a little teary eyed.

Yuuri smiled a little at his bickering friends. They had been practicing their skating for a few hours and decided to take a break to grab hot chocolate from a nearby stall.

He wrapped his scarf closer to his neck since the wind was picking up and decided to intervene on Guang-Hong's and Leo's conversation, "I mean, you never know… What if there really is an Ice Prince in the woods? I mean we never know what's going in the world… There could be aliens in space, ghosts could be real, so why can't there be an Ice Prince in the woods?"

"See, Leo! Yuuri believes me!" Yuuri smiled sheepishly.

"It's more that I'm defending you rather than believing you, Guang-Hong. I mean, it's not like I don't believe you… It's more of I'll-see-it-then-I'll-believe-it thing."

"Haha, so he's basically on my side then!" Leo laughed brightly. "Guess he just likes me better~!"

Yuuri held up his hands at his bickering friends, "Now, now guys. Let's get along." He smiled slightly, pushing his glasses up.

The rest of their break time passed by smoothly and they were relaxing on a bench drinking their second serving of hot chocolate when they decided to head back towards the rink to continue their practice.

When Yuuri returned he couldn't concentrate on his routine. He chose the theme of "love", but who was he kidding? He's never felt a love so strong he'd want to skate about it. So why did he choose this topic? He wanted to be hopeful of love, he guessed. He wanted to feel a strong emotion that he showed to someone special. He kept falling on every jump he attempted, he wasn't into it today and his practice ended without much improvement.

In the changing room he saw Leo and Guang-Hong there, they looked at the walls that were filled with skating posters as he walked in, trying to avoid the elephant in the room with his subpar routine.

Yuuri opened his locker, looking at the pictures he'd taped in there. Most of them were from when he was little, laughing and crying while attempting to learn how to skate. He loved how innocent they were. Why didn't he choose "innocent" as his topic? He cursed himself as he put on his jacket and grabbed his gloves, hurrying out before the other two could talk to him.

He wrapped the scarf around himself and slipped his gloves on walking towards his house, except he didn't feel like going home yet, so he decided to go the long way through a park. He walked along the stone pathway silently looking at the innocence of the children making snow angels and throwing snowballs at each other.

He stopped by a fountain and from there the path split between four ways, one leading to a jungle gym area, another towards a pond where people can feed the ducks, the third was the path he walked on from the sidewalk to enter the park, and the last led towards the Winter Woods. He looked towards it, the atmosphere seeming almost hauntingly beautiful.

A silver mist surrounded the bare trees as snow slowly drifted downwards making it even more haunting. The stone path continued to the edge of the forest, he walked closer towards where it ends and the trail begins. He turned back to the playing children, not even glancing his way, then returned his gaze to the trail. He started walking along the snow covered grass.

The grass crunched beneath his shoe as he walked. As he looked around, he noticed a sign and brushed away the snow that covered it. TURN BACK, it read. He saw a few others and each of them were a warning, STAY AWAY, DANGER AHEAD, and DO NOT ENTER. He looked back towards the way he came, but decided he'd come too far to just give up now, he wanted to know if the Ice Prince truly does exist and if does, he wants to know about him and if the legend is real.

As he got deeper into the Winter Woods, it grew colder and windier. He hugged himself, eyes squinted against the harsh winds.

Then, suddenly, the wind stopped completely.

Yuuri opened his eyes and saw an open field blanketed in snow. In the distance, he could see arches leading to something that looked like a castle. He walked towards it, intrigued. Was this the Ice Prince's doing?

He reached the arches and he realized they were made of ice, actually everything was made of ice upon entering. He saw a few frozen benches in front, then he went to what he assumed was the garden area where beautifully crafted crystal flowers filled the area. Then, he was at a large door.

He stared at it, uncertain, then glanced over his shoulder. But he didn't want to leave now, not after he'd seen all this. So, he mustered up his courage and knocked a few times.

He waited.

And waited.

Maybe no one was home? He peered over his shoulder again, considering leaving, but at that moment, the door swung open; revealing a man. He was taller and appeared to be older than Yuuri. The icy door blurred the right half of his body.

"...Hello?" The man asked, his voice a velvet rasp.

Yuuri's cheeks heated up, "Um… Hi. My name is Yuuri Katsuki." He could've sworn the man's eyes went a little wide. "And… Uh, I'm sorry, I'll leave now."

"No!" He spun on his heel, more than ready to make a break for it, but a tug on his wrist stopped him. The man had stepped outside, strands of long hair that glowed like moonlight cascading over his shoulder. Now that he got a better look, the man's hair stretched to his waist, sparkling like the snow coating the ground beneath their feet.

Yuuri's gaze jerkily shifted to the man's visible eye, which reminded him of an ocean that was about to freeze over. The expression on his face seemed almost tragic? Yuuri couldn't describe it. "...Stay… Please?"

"Um, ok…" The man's face lit up and he gestured for Yuuri to come inside. The inside was just as intricate as the outside, the walls curved upward towards a grand chandelier that lit up the room.

"Um, have a seat!"

Yuuri did so, carefully lowering himself onto the couch across from his host.

Despite the cold, the man simply wore a light black shirt and jeans, yet his pale skin showed no signs of hypothermia.

It was silent, not necessarily bad, just quiet. Yuuri was quite curious about the man, he wasn't sure if he should speak though, but he didn't want to spend his time here in silence, so he spoke up.

"So, what's your name?" He asked.

"Um… It's Victor Nikiforov." His gaze fell to his lap. "Your name is Yuuri?"

"Um, yea, well it's nice to meet you, Victor."

"Can I… ask you why you came? Didn't you see those signs that were posted? Didn't you hear what they say about me?"

"I saw them and I've heard about you, Victor. But...I was curious in meeting you. To see what you're like. And… as far as I can tell, you don't seem like you need those signs there and you don't sound like how my friends talk about you."

At that, he tipped his chin up, lips curving into a slight smile, "Thank you, Yuuri."

Yuuri's heart skipped a beat. Realizing he was staring, he tore his eyes away, settling for the window behind Victor's head. The soft glow of the sun had vanished behind a veil of dark clouds.

"Um… It's actually getting really late," And he didn't fancy being stuck here overnight if the weather worsened. "I should head back now." A pause. "Can I come back tomorrow?"

On that note, Victor's head jerked up all the way, eyes shining as he nodded vigorously.

A soft grin tugged at the corner of Yuuri's mouth, "Ok, then, I'll see you later."

With a wave, he hurried out the door, feeling Victor's gaze on his back.


	2. Chapter 2

Yuuri decided to skip practice that morning. On his way to the Winter Woods, he stopped at a coffee cart, only meaning to grab one, but then, he wondered how long it had been since Victor had last had coffee. An image of the pale man flickered through his mind, smiling gently, hair glowing in the faint lighting. Did he even like coffee? For a moment, Yuuri just stared at the vendor, who grew increasingly more flustered.

"A-Ah, sir... d-do you need help deciding?"

Admittedly, he may have had a mini heart attack. "Ah, um, no! I'm fine! Thanks!"

He tore out of there, two steaming cups in hand. Hopefully, Victor liked french vanilla. He seemed like the type who would.

When he got there, he found Victor sitting on one of the benches alone, staring blankly in the other direction.

"Victor… You didn't have to wait outside for me." Must've been cold, after all.

Victor looked up, "It's ok… I wanted to." Then, he whistled, and in a trail of flurries, a shape came running towards them.

Yuuri yelped and rushed out the way, a blur of white crashing straight in Victor. The figure was… made of snow? And actually moving? And running? Yuuri couldn't believe what he was seeing.

"W-What is that?" Yuuri stammered, watching in abject horror as Victor stooped over to pet the snowy creature.

"This is Makkachin. He's my… friend. Before people found out about me, I used to sit in that park and observe everyone that walked by. A lot of them were walking things called… dogs? I think that's what they're called. So, I thought I could make one for myself… and this is the result."

"That's… That's actually really amazing, Victor… That you can do something like that… Can I pet him?" Yuuri set the two steaming cups down.

Before Victor could answer Makkachin barreled into his chest, sending Yuri flat on his back. The frozen ground seeped through his jacket, sending shivers down his spin as Makkachin hopped onto his chest, covering his cheeks with licks that were in no way any warmer than the snow.

Wincing, Yuri propped himself up onto his elbows, a slight smile tugging at his lips despite himself. He couldn't be mad, not with the little snow dog's tail going a hundred miles per hour, "He reminds me of a dog I used to have when I was little." He lightly patted the dog's head a few times.

Yuuri glanced up at Victor. His hand close to his face to poorly hide the fact that he was laughing, it was a soft, slight laugh. Yuuri wanted to hear it more.

He managed to slide Makkachin off of him. "Um, why don't we walk around? I'm sure Makkachin wants to as well." He looked the towards Makkachin, who barked in response. Next to him, he saw the cups, "Oh! I picked you up some coffee, Victor, I hope you like French Vanilla?" He held the cup out.

Victor's hair brushed to the front of his shoulder as he stared at the cup, blue eyes sparkling with curiosity as he took in the mysterious brown cup. "Coffee? What's that?"

"Huh? You've never had coffee before?" Yuuri mentally kicked himself, he shouldn't have brought him any, he didn't even consider Victor might not know what it was! He definitely should've asked first!

"Um, well," He said, voice several octaves lower, "It's basically a drink people have in the morning to make them more energized. And some people drink it without the energy part because it tastes good. Do… Do you want to try it?"

Victor, mesmerized, nodded his head, bangs swishing as he did so, and Yuuri handed him the cup.

"Be careful when you drink it though, it's hot."

Sadly, Victor had already started drinking. With a surprised yelp, he jerked the cup away, other hand flying to his mouth.

Yuuri held his palms up, "Er, sorry! Probably should've told you that sooner, here let me blow on it for you."

Yuuri set his cup down again. Grabbing Victor's he opened the lid and blew a few times, then put it back and handed it to Victor again. "Hopefully it's a bit better now." Yuuri picked his cup back up, sat down and started to drink his own coffee.

Victor took a sip, a slight smile forming on his face, "It's good…"

Yuuri smiled brightly, "I'm so glad you like it! I was getting really worried, I thought maybe you hated it. And so I was worrying… And… Ah, I'm just really glad you like it."

"I do, Yuuri." He stood, holding out a hand that Yuuri gladly took it, "I know a small trail we could take…"

Yuuri's smile widened, "Sounds fun!"

Then, with a jolt, he realized he was still gripping Victor's hand. Cheeks growing almost as warm as their coffee had been, he yanked his hand away. Immediately, this action worried him. That had been a bit rough. What if he'd offended him, what if Victor got upset, what if-

If Victor had even noticed, he showed no sign of it, already walking towards a different area of the forest. Yuuri trailed behind, eyes trained on Victor's hand. It'd felt warm. But because of the name Ice Prince and the thin clothes he wore despite the snow, Yuuri would've thought he'd be freezing.

Yuuri, was so lost in thought, he didn't notice when Victor stopped until he'd slammed into his back. He stepped to the side, wincing.

"Victor…? Is something wrong?"

Victor's head was downcast, his hair framing his face. And his eyes… They looked so sad and grim.

When he realized Yuuri was staring, the look vanished without a trace, replaced by something like cheerfulness. "Nothing! Nothing, you need to worry about, at least…"

Yuuri's teeth dug into his lip. Sure, he's only known Victor for a day, but he doesn't seem all that bad. Seeing Victor sad makes him feel so helpless.

"Um… Victor?"

Victor turned to him, hair cascading down his shoulder and back. "Hm?"

"I… I know I've only known you for a day, but if something's troubling you, you can tell me, you know? I'll listen to you."

Victor smiled, then faced forward again, "I really appreciate it, Yuuri… But I don't think I'm ready to tell you just yet."

Yuuri blushed and walked after Victor, "Right, of course, hehe, take your time."

"The best part of the trail is coming up ahead."

At this point, Yuuri was really curious because, so far, he thought everything he saw was beautiful. I mean what could be more beautiful than things made of ice?

"We're here." Victor said softly.

And Yuuri couldn't believe his eyes. It was a waterfall with flowing water, but the top was complete ice. Awed, Yuuri walked forwards and noticed that it wasn't actually flowing _water,_ it was flowing _snow_.

"How… How did you make this? It's amazing!" Yuuri turned to Victor whose gaze was solemn.

"Someone special helped me make it."

Yuuri smiled sheepishly, not sure what to say back. He checked his phone. It was around lunch time and Yuuri was starving, "Why don't we head back now?"

Victor nodded, already heading the way they'd come. Yuuri followed, briefly gazing at the waterfall in awe once more. He looked to Victor's back, he was so mysterious. Even him being called the "Ice Prince" alone is mysterious enough, but now there's a special someone too? Yuuri let out a sigh in frustration.

"Is something wrong?"

Yuuri jumped at Victor's sudden words.

"No, nothing, just thinking."

After that, they went their separate ways.

 **A/N: GUYS IM SO SORRY JDJFHKJKS MY LIFE GOT REALLY HECTIC I APOLOGIZE, BUT HEY IM HERE NOW WITH CHAPTER 2**

 **also i don't really use tumblr anymore but follow my twitter ( sweetiesugah)!**

 **it's actually bts related, but yea, if you like bts follow me and let's chat about whatever, i need friends on there anyways**


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